Ron Howard to Helm The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair

Ron Howard appears to have lined up his next directing project with Deadline today reporting that the Rush helmer will tackle The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair for Warner Bros. Pictures. The source material, a novel by Joel Dicker, was initially published in France in 2013. An international bestseller, it is scheduled to be printed in the United States in May with the following official description:

August 30, 1975: the day fifteen-year-old Nola Kellergan is glimpsed fleeing through the woods, never to be heard from again; the day Somerset, New Hampshire, lost its innocence.

Thirty-three years later, Marcus Goldman, a successful young novelist, visits Somerset to see his mentor, Harry Quebert, one of the countrys most respected writers, and to find a cure for his writers block as his publishers deadline looms. But Marcuss plans are violently upended when Harry is suddenly and sensationally implicated in the cold-case murder of Nola Kellerganwhom, he admits, he had an affair with. As the national media convicts Harry, Marcus launches his own investigation, following a trail of clues through his mentors books, the backwoods and isolated beaches of New Hampshire, and the hidden history of Somersets citizens and the man they hold most dear. To save Harry, his own writing career, and eventually even himself, Marcus must answer three questions, all of which are mysteriously connected: Who killed Nola Kellergan? What happened one misty morning in Somerset in the summer of 1975? And how do you write a book to save someones life?

Howard will also produce through his Imagine Entertainment alongside Brian Grazer. Eugenie Grandval and Claire Lundberg will also serve as producers with Alexandre Dauman and Erica Huggins executive producing and Racheline Benveniste and Jesse Ehrman overseeing for Warner Bros.

Howard’s next film, The Heart of the Sea, reteams him with his Rush leading man, Chris Hemsworth. Also a WB production, it is slated to hit theaters on March 13, 2015.